Madame Sousatzka

Madame Sousatzka is a 1988 drama film directed by John Schlesinger and starring Shirley MacLaine, with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. It is based upon the 1962 novel of the same name by Bernice Rubens.

Madame Sousatzka
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Schlesinger
Written by	Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
Based on	Madame Sousatzka by Bernice Rubens
Produced by	Robin Dalton
Starring	Shirley MacLaine Peggy Ashcroft Shabana Azmi Twiggy Leigh Lawson Geoffrey Bayldon Navin Chowdhry
Cinematography	Nat Crosby
Edited by	Peter Honess
Music by	Gerald Gouriet
Production company	Cineplex Odeon Films
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	14 October 1988 (1988-10-14)
Running time	122 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom Canada
Language	English
Budget	$9 million
Box office	$3,548,238

Plot

Indian immigrant Sushila Sen (Shabana Azmi) lives in London with her son Manek (Navin Chowdhry), who is musically gifted. She supports them both as a caterer of Indian food, while Manek studies the piano with Madame Sousatzka (Shirley MacLaine), who is a Russian-American immigrant. Madame Sousatzka, while highly talented, never succeeded as a pianist and thus lives through her students, particularly talented ones such as Manek. Manek is soon forced to choose between Madame Sousatzka and his mother, who both compete for his attention.

The Russian pianist and teacher Madame Maria Levinskaya (died 1960) inspired the character of Madame Sousatzka.^[1] The plot is based on the experiences of Harold Rubens, a child prodigy pianist who began lessons with Levinskaya from the age of seven (in 1925) and became her star pupil.^[2]

Cast

• Shirley MacLaine as Madame Sousatzka
• Navin Chowdhry as Manek
• Shabana Azmi as Sushila
• Peggy Ashcroft as Lady Emily
• Robert Rietty as Leo Milev
• Twiggy as Jenny
• Leigh Lawson as Ronnie
• Lee Montague as Vincent Pick

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 78% of 18 critics' reviews are positive.^[3]

Accolades

Award	Category	Recipient(s)	Result
British Academy Film Awards[4]	Best Actress in a Supporting Role	Peggy Ashcroft	Nominated
David di Donatello Awards	Best Foreign Actress	Shirley MacLaine	Nominated
Golden Globe Awards[5]	Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama		Won[a]
	Best Original Score – Motion Picture	Gerald Gouriet	Nominated
Retirement Research Foundation Awards	Television and Theatrical Film Fiction	Robin Dalton	Nominated
USC Scripter Awards[6]		Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (screenwriter); Bernice Rubens (author)	Nominated
Venice Film Festival[7]	Golden Lion	John Schlesinger	Nominated
	Best Actress	Shirley MacLaine	Won[b]

Availability

The film was released in U.S. theaters on 14 October 1988. Some time after its theatrical run, the movie was released on videocassette by MCA Home Video in 1989. The movie was released on DVD in the U.S. by Universal Studios Home Entertainment under their Vault Series banner on 28 August 2014.

A region 2 DVD was released by Network in 2007 (catalogue nr. 7952723). The extras are a trailer and some production stills.

Notes

1. Tied with Jodie Foster for The Accused and Sigourney Weaver for Gorillas in the Mist.
2. Tied with Isabelle Huppert for Story of Women.